Automatic terminal information service (ATIS), provides a continuous broadcast of recorded aeronautical information in busier terminal areas, e.g. airports and their immediate surroundings. ATIS broadcasts can be in a pre-recorded voice or digital format and contain essential information, such as current weather information, active runways, available approaches, and other information required by the flight crew. The flight crew may listen to an available ATIS broadcast before contacting the local air traffic control (ATC) unit, which can reduce the controllers' workload and relieves frequency congestion. The currently available systems for accessing ATIS information, however, do not make it easy for the flight crew to pull out specific information that may be important to the pilot without having to listen to or read the ATIS message in its entirety.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a user interface that will allow flight crew to quickly obtain desired information from an ATIS message. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the background of the invention.